According to the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), a record 18 million students enrolled in college across the US. Before 2016, that number will increase by another 14 percent.
Where all those students are going? Which universities and colleges are the most popular? After a little digging, we came up with the results. Click on any school below for more information, or if you want us to help you find the university that’s best for you, click here.
Top 10 Public Universities (Enrollment as of Fall 2008)
| Rank | School | Location | Enrollment |
| 1 | Ohio State University | Columbus, OH | 53,715 |
| 2 | Arizona State University | Tempe, AZ | 52,734 |
| 3 | University of Florida | Gainesville, FL | 51,413 |
| 4 | University of Minnesota | Minneapolis/Saint Paul, MN | 51,141 |
| 5 | University of Central Florida | Orlando, FL | 50,254 |
| 6 | University of Texas at Austin | Austin, TX | 50,006 |
| 7 | Texas A&M University | College Station, TX | 48,029 |
| 8 | Michigan State University | East Lansing, MI | 46,648 |
| 9 | University of South Florida | Tampa, FL | 46,174 |
| 10 | Pennsylvania State University | University Park, PA | 44,406 |
Top 10 Private Universities (Enrollment as of Fall 2008)
| Rank | School | Location | Enrollment |
| 1 | New York University | New York City, NY | 50,917 |
| 2 | Brigham Young University | Provo, UT | 34,126 |
| 3 | University of Southern California | Los Angeles, CA | 33,500 |
| 4 | Nova Southeastern University | Davie-Fort Lauderdale, FL | 33,153 |
| 5 | Boston University | Boston, MA | 32,735 |
| 6 | DePaul University | Chicago, IL | 24,352 |
| 7 | University of Pennsylvania | Philadelphia, PA | 24,107 |
| 8 | George Washington University | Washington, DC | 22,710 |
| 9 | Harvard University | Cambridge, MA | 22,558 |
| 10 | Cornell University | Ithaca, NY | 20,883 |
Top Online Universities (Enrollment as of Fall 2007*)
| Rank | School | Enrollment |
| 1 | University of Phoenix | 224,880 |
| 2 | Kaplan University | 32,734 |
| 3 | Walden University | 29,455 |
| 4 | Strayer University | 25,000 |
| 5 | American InterContinental University | 22,173 |
| 6 | Colorado Technical University | 21,876 |
| 7 | Capella University | 21,773 |
| 8 | DeVry University | 12,276 |
| 9 | Grand Canyon University | 13,415 |
| 10 | Ashford University | 10,568 |
Is bigger better? Not always, but a large enrolled body of students generally indicates that there is a high demand for education at a particular university or college. It can also mean that particular institution is very capable of serving a large number of students.
